Alright Era, time to make some predictions. Here's seven of the biggest games with set release dates this year, which ones do you think will cross that 9/10 barrier on Metacritic and/or Opencritic and why?
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
A little late for this one as it releases this week, but TBH the possibility is a little out of left field. Upon reveal (and really since then) Pokémon Legends: Arceus was mocked for it's poor technical performance and visuals. It's still not outstanding in those categories, but later footage has shown improvement. This would have never been seriously considered as a contender for a 9/10 score, but the game has leaked onto the web and people have been playing. It is getting absolutely glowing praise and it sounds like despite all the mockery it's a massive leap in the direction many people wanted Pokémon to go. The game has also been well recieved in media previews and it sounds like it may be one of the best Pokemon games yet. Currently the highest scoring Pokemon game is Pokémon Y at 88/100. If Legends can cross that it will put it right into 9/10 territory.
Personally I think it will get surprisingly high praise but may be held back from a 9/10 due to the technical performance.
Total War: Warhammer III
Creative Assembly has broken the 9/10 barrier three times, with the original Rome Total War in 2004, Empire: Total War in 2009, and finally Total War: Shogun 2 in 2011. Since then they've had their hits and misses, but they've generally been knocking it out of the part with their last few big entries: 85/100 for Total War: Three kingdoms, 86/100 for Total War: Warhammer, and 87/100 for Total War Warhammer 2. Will Total War: Warhammer 3 continue on the upwards trend of the Warhammer entries and give us the first 9/10 Total War game in a decade?
Personally I think it's tough to say. If it launches will no technical hurdles I think it will sit around the 9/10 mark and it'll be a coin toss whether it lands at, above or below.
Horizon Forbidden West
The original Horizon released 5 years ago to glowing reviews. It currently sits at a 89/100 on Metacritic. I think most people would consider this a safe bet for a 9/10.
There's only a few roadblocks I see to Horizon scoring a 9/10. I could see it get knocked for iterating without innovating enough, or lacking the freshness that the first one had with being the first game with the winning combo of robots and dinosaurs. Personally I don't think those roadblocks will be significant enough to hurt the score so I think it'll land in the low 90's range.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is another one I think most people would consider a safe bet for a 9/10. From Software's Souls-like games generally score around an average of a 9/10 and Elden Ring looks to be as good as any of them. Of course the question remains whether or not the gameplay loop/formula will hold up as well when applied to an open world formula.
Personally I think Elden Ring will land above a 9/10.
Gran Turismo 7
Gran Turismo hasn't scored above a 9/10 since Gran Turismo 3 in 2001. The latest entry, Gran Turismo Sport, scored just a 75/100, however the main complaint was a lack of content which got better with updates. If the latest entry launches with a breadth of content could it manage to reach the heights of old?
Personally I think racing games have a tough time building a gameplay loop that's desirable enough to a wide audience to manage a 9/10 score. If they nail everything right with the game I can see it scoring around a 9/10, otherwise it'll land at 85-89 IMO barring any major setbacks.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
I don't think most people consider Lego games to be 9/10 territory, but they have managed a number of entries in the 80-85 range. What makes Skywalker Saga stand out is the breadth of content and the extra development time that was put into it. Previous cookie cutter Lego games were being churned out with multiple games per year. In comparison Skywalker Saga appears to have much more effort behind it.
Personally I think it will land in the upper 80's but won't break the 9/10 barrier.
Note: There have been reports of issues at Traveller's Tales so think twice before supporting their products.
Starfield
Starfield is the last big dated game that we have for the year. Bethesda Game Studios has a reputation for their sprawling RPGs, but also a reputation for technical issues with their projects. They've broken the 9/10 barrier twice before, with Skyrim and Fallout 3. Their last big project was Fallout 4, which managed a 84, 87, or 88/100 depending on what platform you're looking at. Five to ten years ago most people would have considered Starfield a lock for one of the biggest games of the generation, but the reputation for poor technical performance has really hurt the studio and expectations are lower. This will be the first Bethesda Games Studio project under Microsoft.
Personally I think Starfield can do it. We still haven't seen much but we do know BGS reputation for RPGs is some of the best in the industry. If it can launch without BGS's signature technical issues then a 9/10 should be easily within reach. In general, Microsoft has been pretty good about delaying games until they're technically ready lately, so I have some optimism that it will launch in a reasonable state.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
A little late for this one as it releases this week, but TBH the possibility is a little out of left field. Upon reveal (and really since then) Pokémon Legends: Arceus was mocked for it's poor technical performance and visuals. It's still not outstanding in those categories, but later footage has shown improvement. This would have never been seriously considered as a contender for a 9/10 score, but the game has leaked onto the web and people have been playing. It is getting absolutely glowing praise and it sounds like despite all the mockery it's a massive leap in the direction many people wanted Pokémon to go. The game has also been well recieved in media previews and it sounds like it may be one of the best Pokemon games yet. Currently the highest scoring Pokemon game is Pokémon Y at 88/100. If Legends can cross that it will put it right into 9/10 territory.
Personally I think it will get surprisingly high praise but may be held back from a 9/10 due to the technical performance.
Total War: Warhammer III
Creative Assembly has broken the 9/10 barrier three times, with the original Rome Total War in 2004, Empire: Total War in 2009, and finally Total War: Shogun 2 in 2011. Since then they've had their hits and misses, but they've generally been knocking it out of the part with their last few big entries: 85/100 for Total War: Three kingdoms, 86/100 for Total War: Warhammer, and 87/100 for Total War Warhammer 2. Will Total War: Warhammer 3 continue on the upwards trend of the Warhammer entries and give us the first 9/10 Total War game in a decade?
Personally I think it's tough to say. If it launches will no technical hurdles I think it will sit around the 9/10 mark and it'll be a coin toss whether it lands at, above or below.
Horizon Forbidden West
The original Horizon released 5 years ago to glowing reviews. It currently sits at a 89/100 on Metacritic. I think most people would consider this a safe bet for a 9/10.
There's only a few roadblocks I see to Horizon scoring a 9/10. I could see it get knocked for iterating without innovating enough, or lacking the freshness that the first one had with being the first game with the winning combo of robots and dinosaurs. Personally I don't think those roadblocks will be significant enough to hurt the score so I think it'll land in the low 90's range.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is another one I think most people would consider a safe bet for a 9/10. From Software's Souls-like games generally score around an average of a 9/10 and Elden Ring looks to be as good as any of them. Of course the question remains whether or not the gameplay loop/formula will hold up as well when applied to an open world formula.
Personally I think Elden Ring will land above a 9/10.
Gran Turismo 7
Gran Turismo hasn't scored above a 9/10 since Gran Turismo 3 in 2001. The latest entry, Gran Turismo Sport, scored just a 75/100, however the main complaint was a lack of content which got better with updates. If the latest entry launches with a breadth of content could it manage to reach the heights of old?
Personally I think racing games have a tough time building a gameplay loop that's desirable enough to a wide audience to manage a 9/10 score. If they nail everything right with the game I can see it scoring around a 9/10, otherwise it'll land at 85-89 IMO barring any major setbacks.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
I don't think most people consider Lego games to be 9/10 territory, but they have managed a number of entries in the 80-85 range. What makes Skywalker Saga stand out is the breadth of content and the extra development time that was put into it. Previous cookie cutter Lego games were being churned out with multiple games per year. In comparison Skywalker Saga appears to have much more effort behind it.
Personally I think it will land in the upper 80's but won't break the 9/10 barrier.
Note: There have been reports of issues at Traveller's Tales so think twice before supporting their products.
Starfield
Starfield is the last big dated game that we have for the year. Bethesda Game Studios has a reputation for their sprawling RPGs, but also a reputation for technical issues with their projects. They've broken the 9/10 barrier twice before, with Skyrim and Fallout 3. Their last big project was Fallout 4, which managed a 84, 87, or 88/100 depending on what platform you're looking at. Five to ten years ago most people would have considered Starfield a lock for one of the biggest games of the generation, but the reputation for poor technical performance has really hurt the studio and expectations are lower. This will be the first Bethesda Games Studio project under Microsoft.
Personally I think Starfield can do it. We still haven't seen much but we do know BGS reputation for RPGs is some of the best in the industry. If it can launch without BGS's signature technical issues then a 9/10 should be easily within reach. In general, Microsoft has been pretty good about delaying games until they're technically ready lately, so I have some optimism that it will launch in a reasonable state.
